Lawguns Posted July 29, 2017 Share #1 Posted July 29, 2017 Can anyone help me ID this hat? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devildog34 Posted July 29, 2017 Share #2 Posted July 29, 2017 Early 40s, you'll often see them worn in Iceland and by Marines stationed in colder climates. Not uncommon to see a bird mounted on them. Nice cover. Semper Fi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirk Posted July 29, 2017 Share #3 Posted July 29, 2017 Also worn post war as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doyler Posted July 29, 2017 Share #4 Posted July 29, 2017 Agreed Pre WW2-Korea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawguns Posted July 29, 2017 Author Share #5 Posted July 29, 2017 So the hat was used from pre WW2 to Korea and it was a cold weather hat for the Marine corp. Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usmcaviator Posted August 2, 2017 Share #6 Posted August 2, 2017 Often mislabeled as a China Marine cap. It was not worn in China in the early 1940's. The Peking and Tientsin Marines had local purchased Russian style "Ushanka" fur caps of mink and weasel. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devildog34 Posted August 3, 2017 Share #7 Posted August 3, 2017 were these not worn in Iceland? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usmcaviator Posted August 4, 2017 Share #8 Posted August 4, 2017 were these not worn in Iceland? They were worn in Iceland by the First Provisional Marine Brigade, however not with EGA insignia standalone. Period photos sow that the Brigade wore small mirrored diamonds with a collar sized EGA to the front. Diamonds that I have owned/sold in the past, can be made of cut-down shaving mirrors or polished german silver. You will sometimes find these caps in lots attributed to Marines of the 2nd and 1st Marine Division who encompassed the Brigade in 1940. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warguy Posted August 5, 2017 Share #9 Posted August 5, 2017 They were worn in Iceland by the First Provisional Marine Brigade, however not with EGA insignia standalone. Period photos sow that the Brigade wore small mirrored diamonds with a collar sized EGA to the front. Diamonds that I have owned/sold in the past, can be made of cut-down shaving mirrors or polished german silver. You will sometimes find these caps in lots attributed to Marines of the 2nd and 1st Marine Division who encompassed the Brigade in 1940. Mike Boy I m not one to typically disagree with you Mike as you know your stuff for sure. I have seen some period photos of Marines in Iceland wearing this hat with just the ega WITHOUT the metal diamond behind it. Of course I canot at the moment cite the source(s) but I have taken note of it at the time. I once owned a hat identical to the one in this post, (in fact Mike I bought it from you many years ago on ebay). I have since sold it off as I acquired this named one a few years back. RC White served with the First Provisional Marine Brigade in Iceland. Complete with the metal diamond Mike spoke about. Interestingly, the ega on top of the diamond is a collar ega not the cap size. Certainly I think from a collectors standpoint, the metal diamond is more desirable as it is so specific to the Marines in Iceland, but once again, a few wore the hat over there with just ega no diamond. Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usmcaviator Posted August 8, 2017 Share #10 Posted August 8, 2017 Kevin, Never say never right?! I am sure there very well may be photographic instances of EGA worn standalone, however my point was to just not fall hook line and sinker on all of these caps being Iceland Brigade, especially addition of an EGA. Your fine example is case in point of the right look that is no doubt "Iceland". To support your comments, Marines in China initially wore the Ushanka fur cap without EGA, then with it in the late 1920's, then with enameled diamond starting around 1929. While over a much shorter period in Iceland, it stems to make sense that there may be photos of EGAs being worn as they figured out uniformity and on the path to a diamond insignia. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warguy Posted August 8, 2017 Share #11 Posted August 8, 2017 Kevin, Never say never right?! I am sure there very well may be photographic instances of EGA worn standalone, however my point was to just not fall hook line and sinker on all of these caps being Iceland Brigade, especially addition of an EGA. Your fine example is case in point of the right look that is no doubt "Iceland". To support your comments, Marines in China initially wore the Ushanka fur cap without EGA, then with it in the late 1920's, then with enameled diamond starting around 1929. While over a much shorter period in Iceland, it stems to make sense that there may be photos of EGAs being worn as they figured out uniformity and on the path to a diamond insignia. Mike Thanks Mike, your comments are always illuminating and your knowledge is a credit to this forum. Best, Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
relichelmet Posted August 31, 2017 Share #12 Posted August 31, 2017 I agree with Kevin, I have seen these caps in wear with just the EGA in period pictures from Iceland. Best Regards from Iceland Thorsteinn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leatherneck72 Posted August 31, 2017 Share #13 Posted August 31, 2017 Let's see the period photos of the stand alone EGA on the cap. Great thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Hudson Posted August 31, 2017 Share #14 Posted August 31, 2017 Here's a 2008 thread about these fur caps, showing the difference between them and the China Marine fur caps: http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/29404-usmc-iceland-winter-wool-fur-cap/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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